


Summer

by fourletterwordsstartingwithl (hiddleston_loki_lover_au)



Category: Free!
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, ALL the awkward, All the Cute, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-21
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-09 19:25:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6919969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddleston_loki_lover_au/pseuds/fourletterwordsstartingwithl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke heads home...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MalfoyLover_1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalfoyLover_1/gifts).



> This is the floofiest of floof, written for my sister, [reaper86](http://www.reaper86.tumblr.com)
> 
> Happy birthday, Sam xxx
> 
>  
> 
> Beta'ed by the phenomenally talented [sciencefictioness](http://archiveofourown.org/users/sciencefictioness/pseuds/sciencefictioness)

 

 

The train was on time.

 

The train was _always_ on time.

 

Any other day, it wouldn’t have even been a thought, let alone a worry in his mind, but today was different.

 

Today was Friday.

 

Sousuke checked his watch and counted down from thirty seconds, listening to the distant hum as it approached the station.  People bustled around him rushing to board, though he was only jostled a little as he stepped in due to his impressive size and sheer muscle bulk.

 

After placing his satchel on the floor between his legs, he reached up and took hold of an overhead strap, sighing as the doors closed and the carriage began to move.  There was only two hours to go.

 

Two hours until he was _home_.

 

Sousuke worked in Tokyo.  After high school, he had felt so detached.  So unsure with what to do with himself.  Rin had just left for Australia and for a while he had felt untethered.  Lost.  Swimming had been his everything for so long that now faced with his decision to quit the sport, injured shoulder notwithstanding, for the first time in his life he didn’t know what to do.

 

He had returned to his family with a heavy heart, worried he had brought shame upon them for failing in his pursuit of greatness, but his father just shook his head and instead asked him to help with a project he was working on.  He was a local architect, very much in demand and while Sousuke was lousy with the design aspect, he excelled at the math.  When the first project was completed, his father had brought out another; and then another.  A month later, and he was sitting at his drafting table when his father placed an application form for Tokyo’s Graduate School of Mathematical Sciences in front of him.

 

He was accepted and moved to the city, where he studied hard and graduated with honours.  He was then offered a place at one of Tokyo’s finest and most-respected accounting firms, which he had accepted.

 

He was twenty-four years old and living alone in a small one-bedroom apartment, but for the first time in his life he felt free.

 

 

* * *

 

 

A few months later, he was making his way to the train station after work with his head down and shoulders hunched against the icy wind when he had been shoved roughly to the side.  Stumbling back a few paces, he collided with a few people until he fell to his knees.  His hand automatically reached up to rub against his old injury, though long healed, and his head had snapped up as well, eyes flashing with anger as he scanned the crowd for who was responsible.

 

“Oh!  I am so sorry, I tripped and was– _Sou-chan_!”

 

Sousuke gasped as he stared up into the green eyes of Makoto Tachibana.  He was smiling down at him with his hand extended.  “Sou-chan, is that really you?”

 

Sousuke took the offered hand and got to his feet, dusting off his suit.  The pants were ruined and would need to be replaced, but he didn’t care because at that moment, Makoto was smiling at him.

 

He was dressed casually in a tracksuit not dissimilar to what he wore when competing for the Iwatobi Swim Club, with a blue satchel over his shoulder and his messy light brown hair falling about his face.  He hadn’t changed at all.

 

He was still beautiful.

 

“Makoto.”  Was the only thing he could think to say, his voice soft and deep.  The roar of the wind stole most of his voice, but he knew he had been heard from the bright smile and blush from the other man.

 

“You remember me?”

 

“O-of course I remember you,” Sousuke stammered, once again not knowing what else to say.  “What are you doing here?”

 

“I’m staying in the city for a swim-meet.  I was just out picking up some new goggles for our younger members.  It’s their first time in the city and were so excited, they forgot to pack them.  So I looked on the computer and found a nearby sports store.”  He rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled.  Sousuke following the path his long fingers took as they curled around and down the line of his throat.

 

“So you still swim?”

 

“Only for fun.  I’m a coach down at the club, though.  I work as a Sports Physician at a clinic in the town over.”

 

Sousuke nodded only because he didn’t know what else to say – he hated small talk and was truly poor at it, but right then it didn’t matter, because Makoto was still swimming and seemed happy.  He was probably married with a couple of kids by now.  Married, happy, fulfilled and not in any way inclined to befriend a lonely man who had secretly harboured less-than-virtuous feeling towards him.  The thought was like acid in his mouth and he frowned, the bitter aftertaste of his mind leaving him with more questions than he was prepared to ask of himself, let alone answer.

 

“Sou-chan?  Are you okay?”  Makoto’s hand was suddenly on his shoulder and it jolted him from his internal thoughts as his eyes raised to meet the lovely green of Makoto’s gaze.  He was inexplicably torn between wanting to flee and wanting to close the distance between them, which of course was preposterous!  Makoto Tachibana was not some trifling, faceless man.

 

Instead, he flashed a brilliant false smile.  “Of course.  I’ll let you return to your duty.  It was great to see you again, though.”

 

He tried to step around the other man to re-join the throng of people and become no more than a distant memory to him, only to find Makoto holding fast on his shoulder.  “Sou-chan.  I cannot allow you to leave!”

 

“Why not?”

 

“I-I… um…”  Makoto worried at his bottom lip, which Sousuke found endearing and watched as the cogs turned until his eyes lit up.  “Your pants!  Allow me to fix them.  I have ruined them, so it’s only right I be allowed to repair them.”

 

“Makoto, they are torn beyond repair.  I have more at home.  I will change them there.”  He smiled with sad eyes and brought his own hand up to cover the warmth of Makoto’s.  What more would it be to slide his fingers in and squeeze gently?  “It is okay.  I am well.  Farewell, Makoto.”

 

After releasing the other man’s hand and watching with some semblance of grief as it fell away without fight, Sousuke nodded curtly and began to walk away.

 

“Tea!”

 

He stopped and turned back to see Makoto bouncing from one foot to the other, his hands fisted at the shoulder strap of his bag and his expression hopeful.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Can I buy you a cup of tea?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The train began to slow, bringing Sousuke back to the present and signalling him to make his way slowly to the doors.  By this stage, the car was only half full and the remaining passengers looked as sleepy as Sousuke felt.  He couldn’t stop the smile from breaking through his indifferent visage as the doors opened and he stepped off, though.  The breeze that teased at his messy hair was warm, but not unpleasantly so.  It was August and the summer was on the wane, with autumn soon approaching.  Sousuke didn’t like the stifling heat of June, instead revelling in the coolness of August onwards – he absolutely loathed the deep cold of January.  The beauty of the cherry blossoms in February, however brought him promise of a mild March.

 

But he loved August the most.  It was his month of change.

 

Without realising it, his footsteps had begun to quicken and within minutes, he found himself standing at the base of the stone stairs that would lead him home.  His heart fluttered wildly in his chest and he allowed the smallest the escape.

 

Reshouldering his bag, he took the steps with well-practiced ease, happy to let his body pull the cardio from his unintentional workout.  Glancing around, he noticed the sun had not long dipped behind the mountain ridge in the north and people had begun to light their homes, cheery orange emanating from behind closed curtains and blinds.

 

Another three minutes and Sousuke found himself standing on the front doorstep of his small, but pleasant home.  Where all the neighbours were sequestered away in their warm, quaint bubbles, Sousuke found the dark little apartment empty.  He let himself in and made his way upstairs to the bedroom, where after depositing his bag on the neatly made bed he pulled off his tie and shrugged off his jacket with a satisfied sigh.

 

The silence was eerie, but it comforted Sousuke.  Each action he made allowed a small noise to enter the void; the soft thud of his pants dropping to the mat, the quiet scratching of his fingertips as they unbuttoned his shirt and the fluttering of the silk as it fell from his shoulders.  They were all minute noises in an otherwise vacant space.  Nevertheless, he wore the solitude well, and even though had no desire to be alone, would surely wear it with quiet stoicism and grace.

 

Just as he had tried to behave around Makoto when, after they had exchanged numbers on that fateful day in Tokyo, they had begun to message each other on a daily basis.  **Do you enjoy your job?**   _Strangely yes, I take pride in my job and I worked hard to make it this far_.  **Do you like living in the city?**   _At first I found it quite confronting, but you get used to the autonomy after a while_.

 

After a few months, even though the messages had become no less frequent, they had also begun to press further, the questions themselves taking on a deeper, more personal quality.  **Do you have a girlfriend?**   _No._   **Why?  I thought you’d have plenty of ladies wanting to spend time with you**.

 

Sousuke had wanted to lie.  Had wanted to tell him he just hadn’t found that special lady, but he respected the friendship he had built with Makoto too much and the very thought of lying to him to merely preserve his pride felt like brittle chalk in his hands.  If he were to lie, on what basis could he be true to Makoto in the future?  So he had sighed and told the truth.  _I don’t know anything about that, but I don’t have a girlfriend because I’m gay._

 

He had panicked after pressing the send button, actually closing the message app, locking the screen and stuffing the phone into his satchel as if the very item itself burned his skin.  He had dragged a shaky hand down over his face and stared at the advertisement on the tram’s wall opposite of where he’d sat.  He had almost missed his stop, racing out just before the doors closed and striding home in an attempt to burn off all the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

 

This is it, this is it.  I’ve lost the closest person I’ve had to a friend since school.

 

He had let himself into his bedsit and sat on the futon, clutching at his hair.  If you asked Sousuke today, he wouldn’t be able to tell you how long he had sat there with his head in his hands, breathing in and out slowly trying to calm his racing heart.  However, he could tell you the exact moment none of that had mattered.  It had been the moment he heard the faint ping emanate from his bag.  He had wanted to ignore it, but his heart had over-ruled his mind and he’d fished the phone out of the satchel within seconds, swiping the screen and opening Makoto’s reply.

 

**Same.**

 

He was still staring at the screen when a second message from Makoto popped up above it.

 

**I think I’ve always known.  About you, I mean.  I was probably relying too much on hope for it to be true.**

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

After stowing his clothes in the hamper near the door, Sousuke showered with practiced efficiency.  His daily showers took mere minutes at the small bedsit he rented in the city, each one taken in the early hours of the morning before leaving for work.  Only here, on the weekends, could he take his time.  It was never on a Friday night, though.  He had too much pent up energy to dissipate upon arriving home to waste it on a lengthy shower.

 

After dressing, foregoing the suit in favour of black skinny jeans and a teal oversized sweater, he pulled on his black converse, grabbed his phone and keys and made his way back out into the night towards the centre of town.  His hair had only his fingers to style, but he didn’t care.  There was no one out at this time of night as he walked along the foreshore towards the large white building in the distance.

 

The smell of chlorine was pungent in his nostrils as he pressed the large glass door in and entered the building.  It was lit like a beacon and the sounds of whistles and splashing could be heard from the entrance.  Sousuke slowly walked through the foyer and down the long passageway, which opened up to where the pool was, currently filled with about fifteen children, aged around eight.

 

A sharp whistle pierced the air, followed by a sweet laugh when the children squealed in surprise.  “Okay guys.  You’ve all had a great practice.  That’s it for this week’s lesson, I hope you had fun.”

 

Sousuke took a seat at the end of one of the benches, watching with only the briefest of envy as the children swam across the pool towards the ladder to climb out.  When he was younger, he swam to win.  To feel that sweet victory; nothing could be better.  It was only after Rin had finally showed him how swimming as a team could make it sweeter still that he truly grieved the injury which had taken him away from it all.  The bittersweet irony was not lost on him by any means.

 

“Sousuke!”

 

Not realising he had been staring at the rippling surface of the now-empty pool, Sousuke looked up and smiled as Makoto approached him while scrubbed his wayward hair dry with a fluffy white towel.  “How long have you been here?”

 

“Minutes.”

 

Makoto didn’t respond, but he nodded and after wrapping the towel around his hips, sat down beside Sousuke, making sure their legs didn’t touch to prevent him getting wet.

 

Sousuke nodded towards the pool.  “They’re getting better.”

 

“By the day.”

 

“You’re a great coach.”

 

“You could be, too.  Coach Sasabe is looking for someone to pick up a second Saturday.  We’ve had such an influx this year and we can only keep the class sizes so big… and I know you’re only here on weekends, but it would—“

 

“Go get changed and we’ll talk more while we walk home.”

 

Makoto’s bright smile faltered only slightly before he bounced to his feet and disappeared into the change rooms, emerging ten minutes later in navy sweats and a white cotton T shirt, his bag slung casually over his shoulder.

 

They walked along the foreshore with a gentle breeze bringing in the tang of the ocean and a fine mist to float about their faces.  Sousuke listened while Makoto spoke about what had happened during the week, finally falling silent when Sousuke came to stop at a small wooden-framed shelter that housed a bench and a climbing rose weaving through white-painted lattice.

 

“Sousuke?  Are you okay?” Makoto’s soft voice asked hesitantly as he came to stand beside him.

 

Sousuke turned and walked over to the bench, taking a seat and staring down at his hands as they lay linked over his knees.  “I got offered a promotion at work today.”

 

“Oh my god, that’s amazing.  Congratulat—”

 

“I turned it down.”

 

Makoto stopped in his tracks, looking down at where Sousuke sat, his face a mirror of confusion.  “You what?”

 

He couldn’t look up, not yet.  Instead he explained softly, “the promotion they were offering me was more money, yes – but also longer hours and it would mean I wouldn’t be able to come home as often.”

 

“But your dream of making partner…”

 

He looked up then to see worry reflected in Makoto’s eyes and a flash of pride flared in his heart.  This man, this radiant man who was always there for him was still fighting for what dreams they had both shared with one another; years ago when their hearts were still young and naive.  He stood up and took hold of Makoto’s shoulders.  “ _My_ dream is to be able to come home every day and wake up next to you every morning.”

 

They stood in silence for seconds – mere moments. “That’s my dream also,” Makoto admitted on a whisper, his cool hands cupping Sousuke’s face gently.

 

“Which is why I got a transfer to the Kyoto office instead.”

 

“Kyoto?  So that means…?”

 

“Only a thirty minute train ride each morning.  It also means I get to move back here permanently.”

 

Sousuke ran his hands along Makoto’s shoulders and down each arm until their fingers laced together.  With the realisation he was finally free to be with the man he loved, Sousuke smiled brightly – one usually only reserved for when they were alone – and brought Makoto closer until their chests were pressed together, meeting his lips in an ardent kiss.

 

Makoto pulled away for a moment, his eyes shiny with unshed tears and happy laughter spilling from his lips.  “Truly?”

 

Sousuke nodded and Makoto threw his arms around his neck with a happy sob before Sousuke kissed him again.

 

He tasted like summer.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I [tumblr](http://www.fourletterwordsstartingwithl.tumblr.com) for ya...


End file.
